Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary dead at 87

Former Khmer Rouge official Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister under the regime, appears in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on November 22, 2011 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Handout/AFP/Getty Images)

Khmer Rouge foreign minister under Pol Pot dies in Phnom Penh, cutting short war tribunal charges against him.

PHNOM PENH - Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary has died at the age of 87, representatives from the Extraordinary Chambers of the Court of Cambodia confirmed on March 14 — cutting short legal efforts to prosecute Sary for war crimes committed during the time of the Cambodian genocide.

ECCC spokesperson Lars Olsen confirmed that Sary passed away at 8:45 AM local time in Phnom Penh at th Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.

Co-prosecutors in the case against Sary will establish a cause of death and release a report later, added Olsen.

The case against co-defendants Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan will be unaffected by the death of Sary, Olsen added.

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